Wizardkind
Wizardkind are humans that are born with the ability to perform magic. An individual male human with magical ability is known as a wizard (plural: wizards), and an individual female human with magical ability is known as a witch (plural: witches), though "wizard" is sometimes used as a gender-neutral singular noun like "man". 1 Performing Magic In childhood, wizards and witches may exhibit random bursts of magic, called accidental magic, which are honed and controlled as they progress to maturity. To perform controlled magic, almost all wizards/witches need to use a wand, although the skill of wandless magic may be mastered in later life. A few highly advanced wizards can do controlled magical acts without a wand.1 Wandless magic requires great mental control the body and bodily magic or great magical concentration and identification. Wandless magic can also be performed on accident by powerful wizards and witches. Some especially powerful wizards and witches may prefer a staff (plural: staves). A staff is a bit like a walking stick, symbolizing heightened power, wealth, and elegance. Staff-making is far less complex than wand-making, so many nomadic witches and wizards rely on the easy-to-craft staves. Itsward may teach wandless magic to those who ask to learn it from him. Heredity Magical ability is an inherited trait usually passed from parent to child. Wizards and witches were classified by blood status as a form of societal ranking. Pure-bloods are born of two wizarding parents and at the very least, four wizarding grandparents. However, many believe a pure-blood family tree should have no muggle ancestors despite the fact that every family tree has at least one muggle ancestor by the 1990s. Half-bloods are mainly born of one wizard and one muggle or muggle-born parent. Some pure-bloods may consider any witch or wizard with muggle or muggle-born blood to be half-blood. Muggle-born wizards and witches are distantly descended from a squib who had married into a muggle family. The magical gene resurfaces many years later in a muggle-born descendant when that branch of the wizarding family has usually lost all traces of its wizarding legacy.1 Physiology The physiology of wizards is subtly different from that of non-wizards. As such, wizards would react differently to the effects of contact with a magical creature and magical creatures may be more drawn to them. Wizards also by nature could not be fooled by certain types of magic or magical barriers, or would have some awareness that magic was at play. Some powerful wizards and witches are able to not only sense but feel the thrum of magic at work. It was, for example, therefore possible to hide certain magic from muggles via muggle-repelling charms, which naturally would have no effect on wizards. Wizards have the power to cure 'mundane' illnesses and injuries. However, they can struggle to repair any damage caused by magical means such as the Memory Charm and Unforgivable Curses.1 Magical folk have been recorded to live up to roughly 800 years of age. Merlin lived to be 795 and remains to be the oldest known wizard to have ever lived. Sub-types1 Some wizards exhibit special inborn (or acquired) attributes which mark them as unique amongst their kind: Seers Some wizards are born with abilities beyond those of the average wizard. Seers, for example, have the skill of insight into future events. They may garner this insight through visions and dreams they cannot control or through scrying physical objects like tea dregs, tarot cards, and crystal balls. The Ambrosius line are known for rearing seers. Animagi While some wizards have the ability to turn into animals, it is not an inherent power, but rather a trained technique. This type of wizard is called an Animagus (plural Animagi). The wizard cannot choose the animal they are destined to transform into and rarely does the animal they shift into correlate with their Patronus. It is important for Animagi to register as Animagi under the royal house, because human Transfiguration can go horribly wrong and it is important for workplaces and schools to be aware of Animagi abilities. Metamorphmagi Other wizards may have the ability to change only their physical appearance rather than their bodily form. This type of wizard is termed a Metamorphmagus. Such a wizard can change the shape of their noses, hair colour, and other physical attributes. Unlike Animagi, Metamorphmagi traits are inherited. Communicating with animals Some wizards and witches have the ability to talk to animals. For instance, a Parselmouth can speak to snakes. This ability is extremely rare. Some wizards of Jotun blood have an innate ability to communicate and bond with all kinds of animals. Animagi have also demonstrated being able to subtly influence animals while assuming their animal forms. Squibs Squibs or wizard-borns are individuals born to at least one magical parent who cannot perform magic at all past age 11. Squibs are, in essence, 'wizard-born Muggles.' They are much less common than Muggle-borns and are in fact, very rare. Squibs are looked upon with a degree of disdain by some witches and wizards, especially pure-bloods. Late-bloomers There (rarely) exist some individuals that continue to exhibit a lack of magical power past age 11 and yet spontaneously — in desperate circumstances — manage to perform magic later on in life. However, this is rare, possibly more so than squibs.2 This magical performance typically ends up being dangerous and powerful. Legilimens Legilimens are people who can perform Legilimency. These people can tune into other people's minds, but have difficulty reading the minds of those people who can perform Occlumency. The act of Legilimens is referred to as mind reading in the Muggle world. Occlumens Some wizards have the ability to protect their minds from others who can perform Legilimency. This ability is called Occlumency and requires great mental control. Obscurial An Obscurial is a witch or wizard who, due to being raised in an environment where their magic is viewed negatively, develops an Obscurus; a dark, magical, parasitic force resulting from their own magic being suppressed and tainted by negative emotion. Obscurials rarely live beyond the age of 10. Due to the extensive time spent suppressed, their magic, when unleashed, can perform feats far more powerful than that of the average witch or wizard, though only for short spans of time as the user's death often follows soon after.